Italy’s Di Maio: Italians come before ratings agencies - Reuters

On Sunday, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio responded to the Fitch outlook change on the Italian debt, citing that Italy’s government will make a “historic choice” between what citizens need and what ratings agencies say should be done, Reuters reports.

Fitch on Friday changed the outlook on the Italy’s debt to “negative” from “stable” due to concerns about the government’s “new and untested nature” and its promises to hike spending.

Di Maio noted: “In 2019 the universal income must get started. We have to put the financing in the budget so that at least 5 million impoverished Italians can get back to work.”

“We can’t think about listening to the ratings agencies and reassuring the markets, and then stab Italians in the back. We’ll always choose Italians first,” he added.